Episodes
Episodes is an American/British television comedy series created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik which was aired on Showtime in the United States on January 9, 2011 and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2011 and it was concluded in the United States on October 8, 2017 and United Kingdom on May 11, 2018. It was produced by Hat Trick Productions. The show is about a British husband-and-wife comedy writing team who travel to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series, with unexpected results. It stars Matt LeBlanc portraying a satirical version of himself. He had previously collaborated with Crane in the series Friends, which Crane co-created. Episodes has received positive reviews by critics, with specific praise being given to the performances of stars Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Greig, and Matt LeBlanc. For his performance in the series Matt LeBlanc won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy and has been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards. Summary After married couple Sean and Beverly Lincoln win yet another BAFTA Award for their successful British sitcom, Lyman's Boys, they are persuaded to move to Hollywood and remake their series for an American audience. Unfortunately, the network starts to make changes and pressures the couple into casting Matt LeBlanc in the lead role. Sean becomes friends with Matt, while Beverly is less impressed. Continuing changes to the scripts threaten to damage the show and other pressures result in difficulties in Sean and Beverly's marriage. Cast Main * Matt LeBlanc as Himself * Stephen Mangan as Sean Lincoln * Tasmin Greig as Beverly Lincoln * John Pankow as Merc Lapidus * Kathleen Rose Perkins as Carol Rance * Mircea Monroe as Morning Randolph Recurring * Joseph May as Andy Button * Daisy Haggard as Myra Licht * Genevieve O'Reilly as Jamie Lapidus (Season 1–3) * Sophie Rundle as Labia (Season 2–3) * Fiona Glascott as Diane * Chris Diamantopoulos as Castor Sotto (Seasons 3–4) * Michael Brandon as Elliot Salad (Seasons 2–5) * Andrea Savage as Helen Basch (Seasons 4–5) Guest * David Schwimmer as Himself (formerly played as Ross) * James Michael Tyler as Himself (formerly played as Gunther) Episodes Production Development and casting In May 2010, the BBC announced that seven episodes had been ordered and that filming had begun, with James Griffiths directing. Sean and Beverly Lincoln are played by Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig, who previously co-starred in the British sitcom Green Wing (2004–2007). Beverly was originally to be portrayed by Claire Forlani, but she left the cast in April 2010 when the series was in pre-production. LeBlanc was to play a "larger than life version of himself" as character Matt LeBlanc. Thomas Haden Church was also to have a role in the series as Merc Lapidus, the American television executive who commissions the remake, but he left due to scheduling conflicts, and was replaced by John Pankow. Although the majority of the show was set in Los Angeles, it was mainly filmed in the UK, including the 103-room £70 million (2006 construction cost) mansion Updown Court standing in as the house of Sean and Beverly Lincoln, with inserts shot on location in LA. Reception The response of American critics was positive. Robert Bianco of USA Today called the show "easily the best new sitcom of the season" and The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert said that "Each of the season's seven half-hours is a little sliver of pleasure." A Boston Herald review by Mark A. Perigard was lukewarm; he said he feared that the show would never achieve a broad audience, and David Wiegand from the San Francisco Chronicle praised the performances of the actors but felt that the series simply was not funny. Alan Sepinwall of HitFix went further declaring the show to be one of the worst TV moments of 2011. The UK critics' response to the first episode was broadly lukewarm while remaining optimistic. More screentime for Matt LeBlanc was eagerly anticipated by some, with The Independent's Brian Viner believing that this might improve the series. The second season received positive reviews from critics. Henry Goldblatt of Entertainment Weekly called the second season "A terrific second season of this industry-set sitcom". USA Today said of the show "As smartly written as it is played, Episodes offers the comic pleasures, not just of clashing cultures, but of contrasting comic styles. On one side you have LeBlanc, who handles the big laughs and the broader humor, and does it so well, it serves as a reminder that he was under-appreciated during his years on Friends." Ed Bark of Uncle Barky praised the season saying it was "a thoroughly entertaining romp, with the television industry as a combination Tilt-A-Whirl/merry-go-round." On the Firewall & Iceberg podcast Alan Sepinwall and Dan Fienberg commented on the second season, saying that the "self-congratulatory, obvious" show that is "oddly tone-deaf about the business that it was trying to satirize" is "not about anything" and "as a result is better for it", but is still "groaningly unfunny". The third season received mixed reviews from critics. Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker gave the season a positive review, saying "It seemed doubtful that the show’s creators could keep those plates spinning for another round, but the third season introduces a fantastic new contrivance: a psychotic new network head, played by Chris Diamantopoulos." Brian Lowry of Variety gave the season a lukewarm review, praising Matt LeBlanc's performance, writing: "Episodes remains distinguished, mostly, by Matt LeBlanc's gameness in playing a jaundiced, utterly self-absorbed version of himself, the classic stereotype of a sitcom star with an oversized ego.". Phil Dyess-Nugent of The A.V. Club gave the season a "C+" grade and a mixed review, writing: "It's turned out to be a fairly tired satire of Hollywood, one that's stayed yoked to its dubious premise." In the UK, episode one of the series premiered with an audience of 1.86 million, an audience share of 8.5%. Episode Two received 1.53 million viewers (7.4%) – and by Episode Four, viewing numbers were down to 1.09 million (5.3%). Episode Five saw a slight rise in viewers to 1.33 million (6.6%), but numbers once again fell for Episode Six to 1.12 million (5.5%) and the season ended with the lowest number of viewers, 1.06 million (5.1%), tuning in for the final episode. The second series in the UK began with 1.34 million, audience share of 6.8%, but by episode seven had steadily declined to 0.68 million viewers and an audience share of 3.3%. As in the US, the UK's reception to the second series was positive with The Arts Desk saying "There were some very funny industry-related gags, not least network boss Merc (John Pankow) and his PA-cum-mistress Carol (Kathleen Rose Perkins) having sex on his desk while roaring the ratings figures back at one another. The cast are excellent value but at the moment only Greig seems to be playing for genuine emotional stakes. Portraying an exaggerated version of his on-screen persona, LeBlanc’s sweet, sex-obsessed shallowness is all that's required, but Mangan – a terrific comic actor - seems constantly to be toying with a smirk, devaluing some of the emotional currency you sense Episodes is striving for. Together, they've proved they can make us laugh." Broadcast The series premiered in Australia on Nine on July 3, 2012, with season two returning on September 4, 2012. The first two seasons were replayed by subscription television network BBC UKTV (as opposed to Nine which is a free-to-air network), premiering January 28, 2014. Unlike the first two seasons which premiered in Australia on Nine, season three premiered on pay TV. Although originally set to air on BBC UKTV, the series premiered on BBC First on September 12, 2014, and returned for season four on September 7, 2015. On 14 November 2016, it was reported that the fifth and final season would have its premiere on streaming provider Stan in 2017. This move is believed to be the result of BBC no longer being a co-producer of the series and that Stan has an output agreement with Showtime. DVD Release All four seasons of Episodes have been released on DVD individually and as a box set. Each Region 1 season release contains special features and are presented in their aforementioned original international broadcast versions, although Region 2 releases are as originally aired domestically. Awards and nominations External links * Episodes (TV) on Wikipedia * Episodes on IMDb